The 2023 SNQ (Symbol for National Quality) certificate was bestowed on 19 December, with a total of 245 certificates issued. Healthcare groups, hospitals and other healthcare facilities with SNQ certificates are eligible to compete for the National Biotechnology and Medical Quality Award. The award winners will be announced on 22 December.

 “It is a challenge to survive the entire review process”, said Wei-Chao Chen, the chief convenor of the SNQ committee.  The review includes 18 indicators to assess the quality of medical services, from the development of a plan, review of the plan, face-to-face interview, on-site audit, and comparison of medical services with international standards. The process, together with evaluation indicators at various stages, has now been compiled into a systematic workflow for SNQ candidates to follow.

245 candidates met or exceeded safety and quality standards

Among all SNQ candidates in 2023, those focused on cancer treatment (e.g. colorectal, lung and breast cancer), radiotherapy and chemotherapy using AI and digital tools, novel therapeutics for the most common diseases in Taiwan (e.g. diabetes, stroke), challenging diseases in children (e.g. mucopolysaccharidoses, retinopathy, hyperactivity) and integrated care solutions for seniors (e.g. frailty, hypokinesia) accounted for the most cases in the category of medical services submitted for review.

Co-convenor Hung-I Chen (陳宏一) said that the hospitals had performed well this year in terms of standardisation, implementation rate as well as integration of resources and teamwork, and most of the projects had supporting data on clinical effectiveness and improvement of service quality. Chi-Hong Wang (王智弘) suggested that the specialist medicine candidates should conduct longer and more in-depth follow-up and analysis of post-treatment outcomes, complications, side effects, and so on.

Tri-Service General Hospital the champion with 20 certificates

The SNQ review for medical services, which scrutinises the safety and quality of hospitals, nursing, long-term care, public and community services, approved 245 cases from all submissions. Of this cohort, 12 hospitals were successfully accredited in more than five categories each, with Tri-Service General Hospital leading the way with 20 certificates, followed closely by Taichung Veterans General Hospital which netted 17 in the areas of brain stroke, pancreatic tumours, kidney diseases and so on. China Medical University Hospital took third place with 13 certificates in hand, leveraging artificial intelligence in areas such as ECG for sports, home sleep detection, radiotherapy workflow and sepsis. In third place was Taipei Veterans General Hospital, which received 11 certificates for novel therapeutics for spontaneous intracranial hypotension and patient care for people with depression and teenagers who are reluctant to go to school.

Other hospitals with more than five SNQ certificates include Taipei Medical University Hospital (8), Chi Mei Medical Center (8), Kaohsiung Medical University Chung-Ho Memorial Hospital (8), Chung Shan Medical University Hospital (6), Kaohsiung Municipal Ta-Tung Hospital (6), Landseed International Hospital  (6), National Taiwan University Hospital Cancer Center (5), and Far-Eastern Memorial Hospital (5).

Event photos